For the love of Larry

It's time to talk about Larry, my old amigo.

As most of you know I have a lovely dog called Eddie, who I have great walks with twice a day. It was on one such walk, about 18 months ago, when Eddie and me were joined by a small dog. The dog appeared from a piece of land and walked with us for half an hour before he disappeared again.

Over the next few weeks, the small dog appeared and walked with us. I admit that I did look forward to seeing him, he was cheerful and could perform an amazing trick, he could walk on just his front legs! He'd perform this trick very rarely, maybe once during a walk if I was lucky, but after seeing it, I always believed I'd witnessed a miracle and I gave him a treat to encourage him.

However it soon became apparant that the dog was in a poor state. He was infested with fleas and ticks, and beneath his tangled coat he was mal-nourished. His hair was getting thinner, mostly on his ears, this got a lot worse over the weeks to the point where he lost all the hair on his ears and his skin became raw through scratching. We'd reached a point in our relationship where I had to decide whether to step in and care for him or, ignore him and walk somewhere else.

This may sound like a stark decision, but in Spain it's one that you have to consider far too often. In any one week I'll see abandoned dogs wandering around my village. The summer is the worst time because dogs are abandoned miles from their home by owners going on holiday. That's how I came to own Eddie who arrived in my village (at my front door actually), several years ago, abandoned by his owners in the middle of a very hot August.

It was a difficult decision for me to take on another animal because I travel a lot and I also have a cat, Chico. So I decided to make a compromise. I had to go to England in three weeks so I would care for the dog and try and find him a home before I left.

I bought Frontline treatment for fleas and a tick collar. The next time we went for a walk I applied the treatment and fitted the collar. I also gave him a can of dog food and a few biscuits. I must commend Eddie at this point for being completely indifferent to the other dog and the attention I was giving him. Maybe Eddie had his own memories and sympathised with the stray.

Within a day of the treatment, the scratching stopped and within a week the hair started to grow back on his ears, it was at this point I took him home. I started spreading the news about this wonderful dog who needed a home, but the response wasn't positive and when it was time for me to go to England, Larry, as he had been named ('happy as Larry', 'Larry the Lamb' are to blame for his name, which always made me smile) was still homeless.

I put Eddie in a registered kennel and Chico in a cattery, but with no one to care for Larry and with no 'pet passport' (document required by boarding kennels), I left Larry in the street as I drove to the airport to catch my flight. I have to add, that I also left a giant bag of dried dog food with a kind hearted Spanish neighbour!

I spent ten days away and when I returned, there was Larry sitting outside my house, tail wagging. Life started to get back to normal, I got back into my routine.......and then Larry took a dislike to Chico. He wasn't aggressive with the cat, he just stalked him continuously and barked - night and day. I admit by this time I was starting to think I'd be stuck with Larry. I had family coming to stay and was beginning to worry about the overload of animals in my house - not to mention the noise! I couldn't get any work done in peace, and was spending most of my time separating the animals! Then I found my saviour, Julie Rescue at this web site. I sent Julie an email with an explanation and a photograph of Larry and within a few hours got a reply telling me she'd take him. Larry had hit the mother load!

I took Larry to his new home the next day, where he was seen by a vet, and then we spent a few minutes saying adios. The nice thing is, I could see how he was getting on via the web site. Larry is a very charismatic little chap and with that walking trick of his, he soon had his feet under the table. Julie emailed me within two days telling me that Larry was now sleeping on her bed at night!

Julie changed his name to Tim after me (although he's definately not a Tim and he'll always be Larry to me), and within a few weeks someone from Norway spotted him and became besotted. Larry now lives happily in Norway (or is it Sweden), with a very nice family. He left me with some amusing memories, I'm smiling as I write this.

Larry